ἅρπη Ancient Greek · revision 3273

+ {{infobox|confidence=disputed|attested=Homer, Iliad}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /hár.pɛː/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈar.pi/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈar.pi/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ᾰ̔́ρπη''' (hárpē) ''f'' (genitive ᾰ̔́ρπης); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is disputed.^(Beekes 2010)^(Bailly 2020) The word matches [[cu|срьпъ|tr=srĭpŭ]] and [[lv|sirpis|alt=sirpe]], both meaning “sickle”, almost exactly, and Frisk took them to be inherited cognates; he also compared [[la|sarpō|t=to prune vines]].^(Frisk 1960)^(Beekes 2010) Pokorny groups them under [[ine-pro|*ser-|t=sickle]], extended with ''-p-''.^(Pokorny 1959) Beekes, following Ernout and Meillet, finds the vowel hard to explain from an Indo-European form and is inclined to see a non-Indo-European word of the European substrate.^(Beekes 2010) Wiktionary notes that [[m|ine-pro|*sr̥p-]] would be expected to give Greek ⟨ῥαπ-⟩, not ⟨ἁρπ-⟩.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ A Semitic origin, from a word like [[hbo|חֶרֶב|tr=ḥereḇ|t=knife, sword]], was proposed in the 19th century and rejected by Frisk and others.^(Rosół 2013)^(Frisk 1960) Many have connected the word with [[ἁρπάζω|tr=harpázō|t=to snatch]] and [[ἅρπαξ|tr=hárpax|t=rapacious]].^(Frisk 1960)^(Beekes 2010) Frisk thought ἅρπη or a similar base word could be their source, while Beekes thinks deriving them from ἅρπη improbable.^(Frisk 1960)^(Beekes 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In its one Homeric use it names a bird of prey: in the ''Iliad'' Athena darts down from heaven “like a long-winged, shrill-voiced ''harpē''”.^(Cunliffe 1924)^(LSJ 1940) Cunliffe and Autenrieth leave the bird unidentified, while LSJ suggests a shearwater.^(Cunliffe 1924)^(Autenrieth 1891)^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Hesiod is the first to use it for a [[m|en|sickle]], the tool with which Cronus castrates Uranus in the ''Theogony''.^(DGE)^(CGL 2021) From this the word passed to the curved sword of Perseus, which Pherecydes and Euripides call by this name.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE) Later writers used it for an elephant goad (Aelian), a hippopotamus' tooth (Nicander), a fishing harpoon (Oppian) and a bill-hook (Josephus).^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+

+ Aristotle still uses it for a seabird, and Hesychius records a Cretan form ''ἅρπης'' as the name of a kite.^(DGE)^(Beekes 2010) The Hesychian gloss “wind” is unexplained.^(Hesychius)^(DGE) In the sense of “sickle” the word was replaced by [[δρέπανον|tr=drépanon]], with which Hesychius and the Suda gloss it.^(Hesychius)^(Suda) Latin borrowed it as [[m|la|harpē]], the source of Italian and Catalan ''arpa''.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Homer – The ''Iliad'' uses it for a bird of prey.^(Cunliffe 1924)^(LSJ 1940)

+ * Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it for the sickle, both the farmer's and the one Cronus uses on Uranus.^(DGE)^(LSJ 1940)

+ * 5th century BC – Euripides uses it for the curved sword of Perseus.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 4th century BC – Aristotle names a seabird ''harpē''.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 2nd–3rd century AD – Aelian uses it for an elephant goad.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 3rd–4th century AD – The magical papyri give gods such as Cronus and Harpocrates a sickle under this name.^(LMPG)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A bird of prey, perhaps a [[m|en|shearwater]] or the [[m|en|lammergeier]].^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # A [[m|en|sickle]] or [[m|en|scythe]].^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # The curved sword of Perseus; a [[m|en|scimitar]].^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ # An [[m|en|elephant]] goad.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ # A fishing [[m|en|harpoon]].^(DGE)

+ # A bill-hook.^(LSJ 1940)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A hippopotamus' tooth.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ἁρπάζω|tr=harpázō]]

+ * [[ἅρπυια|tr=hárpuia]]

+ * [[la|harpē]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}